Dr. Ward and Maya Jackman ’27 excavated at the Selinunte ruins in Sicily, Italy.
By
Sara Colabella ’08, MA’11
Over the summer, Fairfield faculty members took their expertise abroad—and left a lasting impression wherever they went. From building engineering partnerships in Japan, to participating in an archaeological dig in Italy, to introducing a mobile biomechanics lab in Australia, their scholarly work reflected the global reach of Fairfield’s mission.
Before the summer heat blanketed the ruins of Selinunte—an ancient Greek archaeological site located on the southwest coast of Sicily, Italy—Andrew Ward, PhD, and Maya Jackman ’27 were already in the trenches. With the sound of tools scraping against ancient stone, the assistant professor of art history and visual culture and the art history major worked layer by layer with their team, uncovering the stories buried beneath the surface.
“Our dig moves carefully and meticulously,” said Dr. Ward. “Even ancient trash, sacred or otherwise, can tell us a great deal about how people lived and worshipped in antiquity.”
Students resonate with the idea that these buildings were built by someone, were used by someone, and were destroyed by someone. Understanding that is always powerful.”
- Andrew Ward, PhD, Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture
Since 2013, Dr. Ward, a John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences faculty member, has guided students annually at this archaeological site in a long-term exploration of the city’s sacred heart, a sanctuary home to at least five temples. Over the years, the project has catalogued thousands of offerings, hundreds still in their original positions.
“Finds this year included dozens of iron weapons ritually ‘killed’ by bending and snapping, loom weights gifted to the goddesses from family looms, jewelry including a silver ring covered in gold gilding, and a glass-glazed pot likely imported from far-away Egypt,” said Dr. Ward.
Each morning of the dig, Dr. Ward and Jackman made their way from the surrounding town of Marinella di Selinunte to the archaeological park. From 8 a.m. to noon, they rotated through a series of tasks in the trenches, digging, collecting soil buckets, and documenting their findings. The soil was sifted to ensure even the smallest artifacts like pottery shards, coins, and bones were recovered—each offering clues to the daily rhythms of the sanctuary and how it evolved through time.
School of Engineering and Computing faculty and administrators pursued partnerships in Japan.
Field Director Andrew Ward, PhD, used survey equipment on an archaeological site in Sicily; John Drazan, PhD, visited six Australian cities, including Sydney.
Dr. Drazan shared his innovative “Sports2STEM Combine” program with more than 550 Australian students and researchers.
“It’s really hard not to feel this sense of sacredness and importance within every object you find, whether it’s a fragment of a Greek vase or a piece of architecture,” said Jackman.
During the afternoons in the lab, the archaeological team cleaned and documented the mornings’ finds under the supervision of conservators and specialists. “We are recovering the shared past of humanity one day at a time,” said Dr. Ward. “Students resonate with the idea that these buildings were built by someone, were used by someone, and were destroyed by someone. Understanding that is always powerful.”
More than 8,000 miles away, John Drazan, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, was in Australia to lead a science diplomacy tour. At the invitation of the U.S. Embassies and Consulates Australia, his goal was to engage young Australians across the country in hands-on, accessible STEM learning experiences.
Based on the simple but powerful idea—rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola—to “meet people where they are,” Dr. Drazan’s unique approach to STEM education and outreach involves engaging students through the sport of basketball. “Basically, we are meeting kids—who don’t even know what STEM means—on the court,” he said.
Funded by a grant through the U.S. Department of State titled “Promoting STEM Pathways and EducationUSA Through Sport,” Dr. Drazan’s itinerary included Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Launceston, and Hobart. In each location, he worked with high school students, coaches, and researchers to run his “Sports2STEM Combine,” consisting of mini basketball clinics in which students measure their own vertical jump height, test agility, and analyze their performance using low-cost, Arduino-based tools and 3D-printed devices developed with his senior design students in Fairfield’s School of Engineering and Computing.
What struck me most about this trip is that kids are kids. Whether In Bridgeport or Brisbane, they want to move, they want to play, and they light up when they realize that stem can be applied to the activities they already love.”
- John Drazan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Participating student-athletes calculated their own shooting efficiency using fractions, explored muscle activation during push-ups, and discovered the ways in which STEM analysis can be applied in real-time to sports.
Addressing broader implications of the trip relating to STEM workforce development in Australia, Dr. Drazan also met with more than 30 faculty members and trainees from University of Sydney, University of Queensland, and University of Tasmania. In these discussions, he shared how his community-situated biomechanics lab and research program embodies the “meet them where they are” ethos through the development and deployment of low-cost devices to measure musculoskeletal structure and function within a community setting.
Over the course of his visit Down Under, Dr. Drazan engaged with more than 550 Australian students and researchers. “What struck me most about this trip is that kids are kids,” he said. “Whether in Bridgeport or Brisbane, they want to move, they want to play, and they light up when they realize that STEM can be applied to the activities they already love.”
While in Japan, engineering school representatives met with tech companies and universities. The group also explored Nagasaki’s Jesuit history, visiting historic churches and meeting with Fr. Antonio Ucerler, S.J., a Jesuit historian from Boston College.
Elsewhere in the Pacific region, Fairfield faculty members of the School of Engineering and Computing were in Japan, building (educational) bridges. Vice President of Mission and Ministry Rev. Paul Rourke, S.J., accompanied Dean Andres Leonardo Carrano, PhD; Associate Dean Mirco Speretta, PhD; and Director of Industry Relations Ilhan Akbil on a weeklong mission to build partnerships with engineering and technology companies and universities. From Tokyo to Nagasaki, wide-ranging discussions focused on student and faculty research exchanges, joint projects, and global curriculum development.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization served as the anchor host of the Japan trip and facilitated several partnerships for senior design projects with Japanese startups this semester. One group of seniors will work with IOS & Co. on a design project involving the use of drones to detect and excavate landmines in Cambodia. Several groups will partner with Recursive AI for humanitarian engineering projects focused on water distribution systems, automated carbon credit applications, and wildlife tracking and management.
A significant outcome of the trip was the opening of discussions about Fairfield University applying to become a U.S.-based hub for the advancement of U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, which include addressing global challenges like clean water, zero hunger, and quality education—projects that align with the School’s mission to provide an engineering and computing education with a “higher purpose.”
“This is exactly the kind of work we want our students doing: technically rigorous and with societal impact,” said Dr. Carrano.
